If you’re writing a paper or research report, footnotes provide additional context and information about the text you’ve cited. They’re also useful in providing a disclaimer or other legal information.
Adding footnotes is easy in Google Docs, online or on mobile. Just place your cursor next to the word you want to add a footnote for and select Insert from the toolbar. The word will automatically be marked with a superscript number and linked to the footnote at the bottom of your document. Your footnotes will be numbered in numerical order, so you can easily refer to them by number.
You can also add footnotes by using a third-party Google Docs Add-on like EasyBib Bibliography Creator, Paperpile, or ProQuest RefWorks (see the link in the sidebar). These services will automatically generate and insert a footnote citation, which is linked to the original reference in your library. You can then edit the footnote to include more information or a different version of your source.
The footnote indicator is a little more complicated on the mobile app, but it’s still easy to use. Just place your cursor where you want the footnote to be and tap the plus sign > Footnote. This will mark that location with a footnote indicator and move your cursor to the footnote area so you can enter your footnote text.
When you’re finished with your footnotes, you can quickly change their properties in the Paragraph Style: Footnote window. Just make the changes you need, click OK, and your footnote descriptions will be updated.
